A new campaign to promote Qatar in the Italian market was launched recently, part of the strategic partnership between the National Tourism Council (NTC) and Alpitour Group, Italy’s largest tour operator. The campaign will provide Italian tourists to Qatar with exclusive packages for stays at either The St. Regis Doha or at Sealine Beach, A Murwab Resort.
This move comes as part of the initiative to boost Qatar’s position as an attractive destination for the Italian market, to complement the destination’s already good stance in the country. Visitor arrivals from Italy have increased by 70% since 2011 and to build on that growth, NTC has started operating a representative office in Milan in 2016. Last year, Qatar welcomed over 37,000 visitors from Italy, a 2% increase from the previous year.
NTC Chief Marketing and Promotion Officer Rashed Al Qurese, said that they welcome the Alpitour Group’s decision to invest in Qatar.
We are delighted to support Italy’s largest tour operator in this first-of-a-kind campaign for the Italian market. We are confident that we will attract more and more visitors from Italy with our authentic cultural offerings combined with luxury and adventure including our new Al Enna Project for desert and camping experience as well as our new cruise tourism offerings.’
The campaign promotes Qatar as the Alpitour Group’s new main destination, with the Sealine Beach, A Murwab Resort added to the Francorosso Sea Club portfolio and The St. Regis Doha included in its Sea Diamond collection. Both resorts combine sea, desert, culture and adventure – offering an all-inclusive holiday package for Italian tourists and event managers. Exclusive proposals will also be offered to the top spender bracket of the market through Alpitour’s premium brand Viaggidea.
According to Andrea Cortese, Alpitour Chief Marketing and Digital Officer, they constantly focus on improving their portfolio and Qatar, he said, is without doubt an important bet for their group.
It’s a country that links the past and future, where centuries-old traditions are intertwined with a bursting process of development and innovation. Italians will love discovering it with the elegance and exclusivity that distinguish Francorosso and Viaggidea.’
Qatar Airways and Discover Qatar are also supporting the campaign with offers of direct flights from Milan, Pisa, Rome and Venice. In addition to arriving by air, Italians were also among the top three nationalities to visit the country on board a cruise ship in the 2017/18 season.
To further boost the Italian cruise visitor arrivals, NTC (formerly Qatar Tourism Authority) signed an agreement with the Italian Costa Cruises to place Qatar on the company’s winter itinerary and to cooperate on special promotion packages for their passengers. With 43 planned voyages, this season is set to be the biggest yet for Qatar.
The NTC-Francorosso joint campaign entails activities that will boost awareness on the destination, both on the trade and on the consumer side. In addition, there will be great focus on training sales people through webinars and roadshows to ensure that sales agents discover Qatar’s unique attraction from among other international tourism destinations.
The campaign will have a mix of electronic and digital media as well as Out-of-Home branding in Milan, Lazio, Lombardy, Veneto and Tuscany, together with a specific landing page on Francorosso’s website. Francorosso also ran a month-long promotion of free excursions to tourists who booked a holiday (flight + a minimum stay of 7 nights) under the Sea Club in Sealine Beach, A Murwab Resort or the Sea Diamond at The St. Regis Doha.
Check out the links provided for more information about the campaign in Italy.
